Bambie Thug's life after Eurovision '24, from huge tour to lucky wildfire escape
Norwegian singer-songwriter Emmy will fly the flag for Ireland at the second semi-final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel on Thursday evening.
Emmy will be the third act to take to the stage at the Arena St Jakob-Park this evening as she performs her song Laika Party, with coverage of the semi-final getting underway at 8pm on RTE 2.
The 24-year-old singer will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Cork popstar Bambie Thug, who last year became the first Irish act to advance to the Eurovision Grand Final since 2018.
The 'ouija pop' performer finished in sixth place in the 2024 Grand Final with their song Doomsday Blue, scomayring Ireland's best placement in the contest since 2000.
With Ireland's 2025 Eurovision journey set to get underway in a few short hours, we take a look at what Bambie Thug has been up to since their memorable performance in Malmo last year.
Bambie Thug, real name Bambie Ray Robinson, was born in Macroom, Co Cork, to a Swedish father and Irish mother.
Their mother, who Bambie describes as 'my biggest champion' stayed at home with them while their father crafted metal parts and 'didn't have a note in his head'.
Bambie dreamed of being a ballerina before they broke their arm in college. A blessing in disguise it would seem, as Bambie decided to study musical theatre in London where they found their unique sound and style.
Bambie has used the term "ouija-pop" to describe their music.
In a 2023 interview, they stated "my stuff is hyperpunk avant electro-pop. We call it grit pop or rot but recently I've been coining the term 'Ouija pop'".
In January 2024, Bambie was announced as one of the six competing acts taking part in The Late Late Eurosong Special, where the winner would be chosen as Ireland's Eurovision 2024 entry.
After delivering a spellbinding performance, Bambie's song Doomsday Blues earned a final score of 32, a comfortable 8 points ahead of the runner-up to seal their place in Sweden.
Bambie performed at the first Eurovision semi-finals in Malmo on May 7, 2024, and wowed audiences across Europe with a spectacular lights show and dramatic costume change on set to secure their place in the Grand Final.
Bambie's victory marked the first time Ireland had secured a spot in the Grand Final of the Eurovision since our 2018 entry Ryan O'Shaughnessy with his track Together. The last time Ireland qualified before that was five years prior with Ryan Dolan's Only Love Survives.
The Cork singer went on to secure a stunning sixth place in the 2024 Eurovision Grand Final, receiving a total of 278 points from the combined jury and public vote.
Bambie's performance was met with rapturous applause and proved to be the best Eurovision result for Ireland in 24 years, equalling our final position in 2000 when Eamonn Toal also finished sixth with his song Millennium of Love.
Marty Whelan, who was commenting on the Grand Final for RTE, called Bambie's placement "a great moment" for Ireland and said, "We found ourselves not even in the final for a number of years, and this year we're in the final and we came sixth. It's incredible."
Bambie has kept busy since their memorable 2024 Eurovision adventure.
Soon after returning from Sweden, Bambie announced their The Crown the Witch tour, which saw them perform at Dublin's Academy, Belfast Limelight Theatre, Galway's Róisín Dubh, before finishing off with a homecoming gig at Cork City Hall.
On the eve of her Irish tour, Bambie released a new single titled Fangtasy, which saw them explore themes of self-empowerment and breaking free from control.
Speaking about the track, Bambie said it's 'probably one of the best Halloween songs ever that you can also listen to all year round.'
2025 has proven to be another busy year for the Cork singer, who is currently on the road as a support act for Japanese kawaii metal band BABYMETAL.
The multi-date arena tour kicked off in Belgium on Saturday (May 10), with the Eurovision star set to perform in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Spain and France over the next two weeks before finishing off the tour with a huge gig at The O2 in London on Friday, May 30.
After spending much of the past year, Bambie has said that they hope to get in to the studio later this year and record a new album.
"I have ADHD so I have object impermanence, meaning I forget about songs I've written and need to go through the archives of the last few years of my brain," Bambie told M Magazine in March.
"I can't wait to have some time to go into the studio and write what I need to get out of me again. But thank God I've written so many songs that I've saved in the vault for when I don't have time to do that."
Bambie was back in the headlines earlier this year after they revealed they were very lucky to escape from the Los Angeles wildfires after a blaze broke out near where they were staying in Hollywood.
The Cork musician was in LA on holiday in January after a busy year of performing and touring, and was staying with pals in Hollywood when an evacuation order was issued after massive wildfires engulfed neighborhoods and displaced thousands across the city.
'I was watching the news, but I had turned it on mute and when I unmuted it immediately said 'Hollywood Hills evacuate now'," Bambie told PJ Coogan on Cork's 96FM following their narrow escape.
"I was one of the many residents who received an urgent evacuation notice.
"So I went up to the roof and behind the house by this restaurant called Yamashiro, which is like this old Japanese, like historic restaurant. There was this big fire next to it. There were eight of us on the roof.
"I've never experienced a natural disaster. Obviously in Ireland we're lucky.
"I was trying to book an Uber and they were cancelling on me and then a friend of mine actually came back into the building, gave me a lift down. So I was lucky. I'm in downtown LA now.
'I'm safe and I'm well. I'm grateful to be alive.'
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